Bits and Bobs

This is a post made up of all the rendom bits of news that don't seem to fit anywhere else.

The FIG has posted a preview of the upcoming World Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships in Wroclaw, Poland (July 16-18). For Brits the team mainly includes members of the now famous and very talented Spelbound. Best of luck to them all. Read about it here.

Reader Briony rightfully corrected me for saying nothing much was happening in the skating world at the moment. The British Solo Ice Dance Championships are taking place in Sheffield this week.

I have to admit I don't know much about solo dance, even though I have a friend at med-school who competed in it. It seems to my ignorant eyes to be similar in terms of the rules and patterns in the competition (a set dance- eg waltz, tango etc. then a free dance) just without partner. As Bryony pointed out, Solo dance isn't sanctioned by the ISU but is popular in the US and here in the UK. With the usual shortage of partners - it seems like a good idea!


In other sport - runner Caster Semenya is finally being allowed to compete again internationally after almost a year off and a myriad of gender tests. The results of the tests have not been released but, whatever the reason, it'll be great to see her back.



This is old news now, but the USA 2000 olympic gymnastic team are to recieve bronze medals at the 2010 visa championships after the Chinese team were stripped of theirs when Dong Fanxiao was found to be under-age. I found an interesting old fluff piece on youtube about Dong Fanxiao and the Chinese gymnastics system.

US skater Ashley Wagner has a new video blog on the universal sports website. The video also shows Christina Gao and Adam Rippon goofing around back-stage at an ice show. watch it here.

British Gymnastics has now added a great selection of videos from the national champs.
Beth Tweddle said she didn't compete floor because she was resting a slight knee injury and she also is planning to debut a new floor routine :-)

That's all for now- I'll elaborate on this if I find any more exciting info to blog.

Skating stuff

This week has been a busy one for gymnastics- hard to find much going on in the skating world.
However - I felt it deserved a mention.

Some more skaters have revealed their music choices for the upcoming season

Mao Asada JPN (I think I already posted this one - but hey)
SP Tango by Alfred Schnittke
LP Liebesträume by Franz Liszt

Yu-Na Kim - new exhibition - La Roux's Bulletproof (now THAT's a bit different to Meditation by Thais!)

Kate Charbonneau CAN
SP Malaguena
LP Hymn to Love

Amanda Dobbs USA
SP Breakfast at Tiffany's
LP Aranjuez

Christina Gao USA
SP Violin Concerto by Mendelssohn.
LP Yellow River Concerto

Tamar Katz ISR
SP Layenda, by Vanessa Mae
LP Scheherazade, by Rimsky-Korsakov

Brian Joubert FRA
SP or LP Malaguena

Shawn Sawyer CAN
LP Alice in Wonderland soundtrack

Daisuke Takahashi JPN
LP Amelie, choreo by Lambiel

Jessica Dube & Bryce Davison CAN
SP Mask of Zorro -choreography by David Wilson

Caydee Denney & Jeremy Barrett USA
LP Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin

View all those announced on the Goldenskate forum here.

Also Liza Tukatmysheva, one of Alexei Mishin's group of young, talented skaters is training what looks like an easy triple axel. Liza is 13 now I believe- is she finally old enough to compete internationally this year? Watch a video here.

Turkish skater Tugba Karademir had retired from skating to focus on university.

Nastia - still living in a whirlwind.

Olympic champ Nastia Liukin's feet have barely touched the ground since she got off the plane from Beijing. Her latest piece - a cameo on the american drama 'Make it or Break it'.

She does a nice little behind-the-scenes piece here. I'm sure her actual cameo will be hitting youtube soon.


I was hoping we might see her competing again this year, maybe on bars or floor as she almost did last year. But that seems increasingly unlikely as she continues to balance being a superstar gymnast with being a superstar.

Hard life isn't it!

British Champs - Photos

Here are some of my (slightly blurry) photos from the second day of the British Championships.

Top 4 - Beth Tweddle, Nicole Hibbert, Billie Mackenzie (Junior) , Danusia Francis
Middle 4 - Laura Edwards (I think!), The Heathrow girls, Marissa King, Hannah Whelan
Bottom 4 - Niamh Rippin, Vault medallists, Bars Medallists, Floor Medallists

Gym Videos of the week.

Here is one of my videos from the British Championships - Beth Tweddle's bar routine. She won with a (for her) relatively low score of 15.000. My boyfriend swears he saw her bang her foot on the bar. I can't see it watching it over again but it would explain the deductions.



Edit: yes- he was right - I watched a more side-on version of this routine posted by RETROMADDY on youtube - she does bang her foot on the second swing past the low bar.

British Gymnastics will be posting more videos this week here.
One to watch is Lauren Mitchell's impressive beam routine- she won the junior beam and junior all-around titles.

Also you can watch videos from the team final of the Japan Cup here.
Or from the All-Around here.



Aliya Mustafina appears to have changed her floor routine music since Europeans. I like the new routine, but I think I liked the old one better!

Gymnastics Update.

I've borrowed a friend's laptop after getting back from the apparatus finals at the British Gymnastics Championships today. My own photos and videos will follow later.

Yesterday 2008 olympian Hannah Whelan completed her comeback from injury to win the all-around title ahead of new senior Nicole Hibbert and her Heathrow team-mate Danusia Francis.

Beth Tweddle only competed bars here (not sure if that means she's protecting an injury) but she loooked fit and won the title with ease.

Danusia Francis surprised some by winning the senior beam and floor title, ahead of Whelan and Niamh Rippin.

Seniors
Bars:Beth Tweddle, Nicole Hibbert, Hannah Whelan
Floor: Danusia Francis, Niamh Rippin, Rebecca Wing
Beam: Danusia Francis, Hannah Whelan, Rebecca Wing
Vault: Imogen Cairns, Marissa King, Nicole Hibbert

Juniors
Bars: Rebecca Tunney, Lizzie Beddoe, Jasmine Reed-Yang
Floor:Jessica Hogg, Loriah James, Ruby Straw
Beam: Laura Mitchell, Bethan Evans, Jessica Hogg
Vault: Ruby Harrold, Ruby Straw, Jessica Hogg

For full results click here.

Also at the Japan Cup - Russia won the womens team title over Japan. Ksenia Afansyava showed she is still a contender by winning the All Around, ahead of Koko Tsurumi and Aliya Mustafina.


Thats all for now - much more soon! (These photos from International Gymnast)

Also This Weekend

The Japan Cup international competition is taking place in Tokyo. The event includes Mens and Womens team events and all-around.

The Participant list is here

MEN

WOMEN

FRA FRANCE RAYEPIN, Yann AITSAID, Samir VIEU, Cyril AUGIS, Axel WILLIG, Arnaud GBR GREAT BRITAIN HUNTER, Samuel THOMAS, Kristian PURVIS, Daniel SEAGER, Theo GRYSHCHENKO, Yevgen GER GERMANY BOY, Philipp FAHRIG, Matthias HAMBUECHEN, Fabian NGUYEN, Marcel SPIRIDONOV, Eugen KOR KOREA KIM, Hee Hoon HA, Chang Ju YOO, WonChul KIM, Soo Myun YANG, Hak Seon ROU ROMANIA DRAGULESCU, Marian COTUNA, Vlad MUNTEAN, Andrei URSACHE, Andrei RUS RUSSIA BODNAR, Mikhail BALANDIN, Aleksandr BELYAVSKIY, David PAKHOMENKO, Igor PETROV, Matvey USA UNITED STATES BROOKS, Christopher CAMERON, Christopher HORTON, Jonathan NADDOUR, Alexander RUGGERI, Paul JPN JAPAN UCHIMURA, Kohei YAMAMURO, Koji UEMATSU, Koji TANAKA, Kazuhito KOBAYASHI, Kenya

KOR KOREA JO, Hyun Joo PARK, Ji Yeon PARK, Eun Kyung MOON, Eun Mee SEO, Yi Seul RUS RUSSIA MUSTAFINA, Aliya NABIEVA, Tatiana DEMENTYEVA, Anna MUSINA, Ramilya AFANASYEVA, Kusenia VIE VIETNAM DO, Thi Ngan Thuong DO, Thi Thu Huyen PHAN, Thi Ha Thanh JPN JAPAN TSURUMI, Koko SHINTAKE, Yuko TANAKA, Rie YAMAGISHI, Mai OZAWA, Momoko OSHIMA, Kyoko * Yet to be selected fro

The Australian Womens Gymnastics Championships take place in Perth, Australia. Aussie Star Lauren Mitchell is sitting them out to recover from an adductor strain, but still hopes to compete at Worlds AND Commonwealths.

As mentioned- the British Championships take place in Guildford.

Today - Happy Canada Day!

Tomorrow - My first year med-school results, wish me luck!